Several questions, 1 thread.

So I am starting Uni in September studying Psychology. I am nervous but who isnt when its so close to starting something new eh? Anyway I have several questions that would help me establish basic stuffs about Uni. So here it is:1) I have 'ok' handwriting. I can read it, it doesnt look like a 5 year olds, but it isnt perfect. I am not a massively fast writer and often just skip writing notes if im too far behind due to writing notes from previous slides etc. For this reason I am asking if taking in laptops to take notes from is a good idea. As mentioned I am studying Psychology and not sure if laptop notes are going to be my best bet but I consider myself good with computers anyhow and type quickly. So is this a good idea?2) Lectures vs Seminars vs other. Of course I know that a lecture is a class sat in a lecture room (what a coincidental name?) and you all take notes and listen to what the lecturer is saying etc. I dont really know what a seminar is in regards to Uni? I did many seminars when doing martial arts and these seminars were focused on a guest coming in and teaching us (typically extra curricular) and learn new things. Is this what a University seminar is? Except learning about your academic subject of course and not how to choke somebody? 3) How much time a day is spent on campus for your first year? How long are lectures? Do you spend hours and hours a day on campus? How many days do you need to come in for? Sorry for long thread, any replies are awesome.

1) Yes its a good idea as electronic notes make you much more efficient and easy to edit when you look back on them (At my university, most people had laptops or ipads, handwriting was more unusual to see).
2) I didnt have many seminars at uni but you normally have them in smaller groups and discuss lecture material or case studies or assignment questions.
3) That massively depends on which university you go to, and even then you could have a different timetable each week.

For this reason I am asking if taking in laptops to take notes from is a good idea. As mentioned I am studying Psychology and not sure if laptop notes are going to be my best bet but I consider myself good with computers anyhow and type quickly. So is this a good idea?

2) Lectures vs Seminars vs other. Of course I know that a lecture is a class sat in a lecture room (what a coincidental name?) and you all take notes and listen to what the lecturer is saying etc. I dont really know what a seminar is in regards to Uni?

How much time a day is spent on campus for your first year? How long are lectures? Do you spend hours and hours a day on campus? How many days do you need to come in for?

Depends on the university. Perhaps around four days of 4 hours each per week. It will decline as you go through the exam period though. Lectures can be one or two hours long; workshops/seminars are usually one hour long, but this can all vary. Some days you might even only have to come in for an hour. Loads of fun when that happens.

With regards to this, you say 4 hours roughly is normal per day. What makes up this 4 hours? For example does this mean that you may have a two hour lecture followed by a seminar afterwards? Also, thanks for an in depth response!

It can vary loads. On a Monday you might have a two hour Social lecture starting at 9am, followed by a seminar at 11, and another lecture on a different module at 2PM. The next day you might just have one workshop.

4 hours per day is just a guess of the average; I can't really give any more detail of that. You should be able to access your university's online timetable in a few weeks to see for yourself.

1. take whatever notes work for you best, I prefer hand writing but some people brought laptops because they preferred that

2. seminars are small groups, usually 5-10 students and it will be more discussion based rather than a lecture, so you may be given a topic to research or homework to do as preparation then you will discuss or debate it in the seminar

3. contact hours vary, I always had around 10 contact hours a week but some courses are heavier/lighter